Robert t



(No Model.)

R. T. PETTEBONE.

SHOVBL 0R S0001.

No. 413,252.l Patented oct. 22,1889;

N, Petras, mwunwwpner. wamugw. ua

UNITED STATES PATENT (NEIGE.

ROBERT T. PETTEBONE, OF VYOMING, PENNSYLVANIA.

s HovEL 0R scoop.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 413,262, dated October22, 1889.

Application led June 5, 1889. Serial No. 318,126. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT T. PETTEBONE,

of Wyoming, in the county of Luzerne and companying drawings, forming apart of this specication, and to the figures and letters of referencemarked thereon.

Shovels or scoops of the class to which my present invention relateshave heretofore ,been constructed with a blade having a depression inthe back thereof for the reception of the end of the handle, and the endof the back strap forming one side of the socket for the handle, a frontstrap being secured to the front of the blade, forming the other side ofthe socket for said handle. Thns theback strap and rivets were fullyprotected from wear, dto., as fully set forth and described, forinstance, in my prior patents, No. 282,368, dated July 3l, 1883, and No.257,752, dated While shovels and scoops constructed as above describedpossess many advantages, it is found in the practical use of sucharticles that the blade or body portion proper willbecome worn out ordestroyed long before the handle and socket or straps, thus, as suchparts are permanently attached thereto, necessitating the discarding orthrowing awayof the entire shovel.

My present invention has for its object to overcome this difficulty, andat the same time to provide a cheap and desirable shovel having anindestructible handle adapted to be readily applied or removed fromscoop or shovel blades of a certain definite kind by an unskilledworkman; to which ends the inblade, whereby the handle and the blade aresecurely united and braced; and, finally, the

invention consists in certain novel details of construction andcombinations and arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out particularly in the claims at the end of thisspeciiication.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of ascoop-blade constructed in accordance with the present invention andready to have the handle applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective Viewof the handle or sheath portion ready for application to the blade, withthe grip or D-handle separated therefrom. Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof the parts assembled, looking at the front; and Fig. 4 is a similarview,lookingat the rear side of the shovel. Fig. 5 is alongitudinalsection showing a handle in which the back strap forms a sheath for awooden center. Fig. 6 is a view of a blank from which the back strap andhandle are formed. Fig. 7 is a section on the line :c Fig. 3; and Fig. 8is a section on the line y fg, Fig. 3. Fig. 9 is a view on the line fuo, Fig. 4.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the sameparts.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the blade A isconstructed in all respects similar to that described in mybefore-mentioned patents, save that the front strap B, instead ofextending up and surrounding the handle above the blade, is very short,and is provided with means for attachment to the handle, orforwardly-extending portion of the back strap forming the same, as willbe presently described, preferably consisting in simple holes orperforations c, through which bolts are passed lto accomplish thedesired end. The back strap C is formed at the lower end, or at thepoint of attachment to the blade, similarly to that de- .scribed in mysaid patent; but instead of the upper end being narrow it is widened, asshown in Fig. 6, and elongated to extend up to the grip or D-handle, thewhole then being swaged up into tubular form, and constitutes, when ofthick material, the handle itself, and when of thin material a casing orico,

blank brought together on the upper side,

giving greater strength, and leaving the under side smooth, whereby thehands are protected against injury by having the iesh forced into thecrack in lifting heavy loads.

At the lower end the corners of the blank forming the tubular portionare provided wit-h apertures D, corresponding to those in the frontstrap of the blade, and saidtubular portion is also preferably providedwith apertures d at the back diametrically opposite those at the front.

In order, now, to assemble or unite the back strap and handle and theblade, it is only necessary to bring them together in the positionillustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, and pass small bolts E through the bladeand back strap at the points indicated, and vthen pass vbolts throughthe registering-apertures D c in the tubular portion of the back strapor handle and the front strap immediately above the blade, when it willbe found that the parts are as firmly and securely united as would bethe case were they assembled in accordance with instructions containedin my prior patents.

It will be seen that the heads of the bolts are placed inside of theblade and the nut and screw-threaded ends on the outside, where they lieentirely within the depression aforesaid, and are thus protected fromall wear or danger of being knocked off or mutilated. It will also beseen that the bolts passing through the tubular portion and front strapare high enough to escape any possible wear, but at the same time are solow as to prevent all danger or liability of the operatoris hand comingin contact therewith. These lastmentioned bolts, too, it will be seen,preferably extend through the back strap and cross each other, thusforming braces or supports for the tubular portion. As before intimated,the tubular portion may, instead of forming the entire handle, simplyconstitute a sheath for a Wooden core or handle F, (see Fig. 5,) inwhich case the tubular portion extends clear up to the base of the gripor D'- handle, the latter being formed in one with the Wooden portion,in the usual manner, or, preferably, as shown in said ligure, in whichit will seen that the D-handle is formed of malleable iron, with asocket or thimble portion Il, for the reception of the end of the woodencore, to which it is united by a suitable rivet t or otherwise, and withupwardlyextending arms I, between the ends of which the handle proper Kis held. Vhen, however, the tubular portion itself constitutes thehandle, it is preferably provided with crossbolts, such as G, at one ormore points intermediate the ends, to draw the edges tightly `togetherand for the sake of additional strength, and in this instance theD-handle, instead of having a socketed end for the reception of thewooden core, is made of such size as to fit within the tubular strap,andis united thereto, preferably by a cross-rivet M.

From the above description it will be seen that I have produced a shovelhaving an adjustable or detachable handle which may be easily andreadily applied to any blade having the characteristics mentioned, andwhich, when so united, will be strong and durable, not liable to be bentor broken, and the initial cost of which is, if anything, much less thana shovel having a wooden handle possessing the same strength, but whichcould not possibly have half the endurance or wearing qualities. Furtherthan this, it will be seen that by the invention herein set forth aperson using a large number of shovels or scoops is enabled to effect avery material saving in the cost of the same, as when a blade wears outit is only necessary to remove the same and supply a new one, a largenumber of which may be constantly kept on hand and procured atacomparatively small cost.

Vhile I haveparticularly described the tubular portion as extending upto the handle, it is obvious that the same may be shorter and constitutea socket for the end only of the wooden core or handle, and, further,that many of the details of the structure may be changed withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention. For instance, instead of thebolts, ordinaryrivets may be employed to unite the blade and handle, andwhen it is desired to renew the blade the heads of the bolts may bebroken off by means of a chisel, or in any preferred manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new isl. Thecombination, with the blade of a shovel or scoop having the depressiontherein, of the back strap having the extended lower end removablysecured within the said depression and formed into the tubular handle atthe upper end, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the blade of a shovel or scoop, of the backstrap having the extended hanged lower end secured to the blade on theoutside, the tubular-handle portion, and the front strap on the bladesecured to the lower end of the tubular-handle por-V side, with theiianged lower end on the under side, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the blade having the front strap thereon, ofthe back strap having the extended lower end, the sheet-metal tubularhandle integral therewith, having the IOO IIO

USI'.

edges brought together on the upper side, the 7. In a shovel, thecombination, with the bolts uniting the lower corners 0f the tubulartubular handle or sheath, of the Wooden core portion and front strap,and the bolts uniting and the separate malleable-iron grip 0r hantheback strap and blade, substantially as dedle secured thereon, andagainst Which the 5 scribed. upper end of the tubular portion abuts,sub- 15 6. The combination, with the tubular hanstantially as described.

dle formed of sheet metal and the blade and ROBERT T. PETTEBONE. v frontstrap, of the crossed bolts passing Y Witnesses: through the handle anduniting the same and 1 J. FRANK NUSS,

1o front strap, substantially as described. R. E. l-IUTCHINS.

